Luke 2:8-20 NIV
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
The account of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:8-20 is one of the most well-known and loved portions of scripture. The reading of these verses is probably also the most read and heard parts of the Bible throughout the whole year, even though it is almost exclusively read and heard at Christmas time.
This segment of the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke’s gospel is read and heard in churches, in Christmas plays and in countless homes of Christians during the Christmas season throughout the world. However, did you know that the Biblical Christmas story or the true meaning of Christmas is briefly heard in many languages in tens of millions of homes by families and children around the world who are not Christians. In the famous Peanuts cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Luke 2: 8-14, only seven verses, are read by Linus addressing Charlie Brown’s question, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”
“Charles Schulz insisted on one core purpose: “A Charlie Brown Christmas” had to be about something. Namely, the true meaning of Christmas. Otherwise, Schulz said, “Why bother doing it?”
Why can the true story of how Christmas started with the birth of Jesus or even mentioning His name be so controversial? Mentioning the name of Jesus and reading from scripture about the birth of Jesus is not a recent issue of controversy. Even in 1965, before the first TV airing of the cartoon, A Charlie Brown Christmas, the reading of Biblical scripture about the birth of Jesus in the cartoon was controversial. The following is an excerpt from a Newsweek article of 12-8-21 that mentions this matter.
“The CBS executives worried about the scene where Linus recites the story of the birth of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of Luke. It was too long, they believed. And too literal. The CBS executives assumed Americans, especially kids, wouldn’t want to sit through a spoken passage from the King James Bible.
“They were freaking out about something so overtly religious in a Christmas special,” Melendez said. “They basically wrote it off.”
Schulz didn’t get pushback just from CBS executives: Members of his team were skeptical too. Melendez himself was hesitant. “I was leery of the religion that came into it, and I was right away opposed to it,” he told reporters.
Luckily for Schulz, he was the beneficiary of a tight production schedule. Moreover, the network, the advertising agency and the show’s sponsor, Coca-Cola, had already promoted the show in TV Guide. Schulz had leverage and wasn’t about to capitulate on key creative elements—especially the Bible reading. The network executives finally caved and aired the special as Schulz intended.
That’s why Charles Schulz was Charles Schulz. He intuitively knew the things Americans cared about. The things that gave their lives meaning. The long-time Sunday school teacher also knew the reading from the Gospel of Luke was the centerpiece of the show. And a centerpiece of American life.”
As Christians, knowing, living and telling others about the true meaning of Christmas by how we celebrate Christmas is important for many reasons. First of all, the detailed birth of Christ as told in the gospels of Matthew and Luke is a fulfillment of Old Testament scripture prophecy. In other words, the birth of Jesus was not a story made up by the New Testament writers but it was told about hundreds of years before His birth.
Isaiah 7:14, Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
In addition, what is said in Matthew and Luke about Jesus’ birth is a detailed earthly account of what John 3:16-17 tells us; 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3: 16-17 is God’s reason for Jesus’ birth.
Jesus did not just come into the world so we can have a dramatic story of the birth of a baby. But it is the expression of God’s love for us and God’s provision of our salvation.
1 Timothy 1:15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst.
1 Timothy 2:3-5, 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”.
In John 10:10 Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (NKJV) If we as believers in Christ having received Christ as our Savior and have an intimate relationship with Him, the true story of Christmas and the reason why we celebrate should always be Jesus and not a controversy to avoid. Our lives all year and every moment of the day should be an example and expression of the living Jesus in our lives, which authenticates the Christmas story and answers the question asked by Charlie Brown, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”. Let us prayerfully consider how we can do as the shepherds did “…spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child…” and exemplify not only in the Christmas season but all year how we know what Christmas is all about.
Pastor John
